MEMORIAL DAY THOUGHTS – see how many war deaths we should honor

MEMORIAL DAY THOUGHTS BY STAN BILLINGSLEYA few years ago, while eating lunch in Bruge, Belgium, I struck up a conversation with an elderly couple from London, England. The wife asked me, “was their much fighting in WWI around here.”

I told her that every flower in the nearby fields was fertilized with English blood. We weren’t far from Flanders field. Gwen found this famous poem. (below)

When visiting with some fiends in Bridgnorth, Enland I noticed and old family picture on the wall. Which had a group of about 25 people. As I recall our host told us all of the men in the picture (about l5) but two, had been killed in WWI.

World War I (much more so than WWII) had a devastating affect on the English as well as other nations.

Perhaps this is a good time to review how many deaths have been caused by war in modern history.

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian ArmyIn Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.CASUALTIES AND DEATHS suffered by the United States of America in war or deployments: